As government authorities around the world create a constantly evolving regulatory environment, conduct overlapping investigations, and bring parallel proceedings, companies are facing perhaps the most challenging regulatory and criminal enforcement environment. Our goal is to serve as a leading-edge resource for companies navigating these waters. Moore & Van Allen’s WCIRA News Clips is a complement to our White Collar Defense, Investigations, and Regulatory Advice Blog’s in-depth individual treatment of critical emerging issues. WCIRA News Clips hits the highlights of recent developments, streamlining access to critical information for our readers. Subscribe to the White Collar Defense, Investigations, and Regulatory Advice Blog via email or RSS to ensure that you receive WCIRA News Clips, as well as our comprehensive posts. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the materials covered.

Banks Required to Submit CCAR and Dodd-Frank Stress Test Results April 5, 2019: The 2019 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) and Dodd-Frank Act stress test exercises are underway, with banks required to submit their capital plans and stress test results to the Federal Reserve by April 5, 2019. The scenarios that banks and supervisors must use for the exercises include a baseline, an adverse scenario, and a severely adverse scenario presenting a severe global recession with the U.S. unemployment rate rising to 10 percent and elevated stress in the corporate loan and commercial real estate markets. Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve Board released the 2019 instructions and announced that it adopted a rule that eliminates its authority to object to capital plans on qualitative grounds for most firms, given that capital planning by the largest firms has improved. In its press release, the Board identified 18 firms that will participate in the 2019 CCAR exercise and stated that five of those firms will be subject to a possible qualitative objection. Additional information regarding the CCAR testing parameters and instructions is available here and here. The Federal Reserve is expected to release the results of its supervisory stress tests by June 30, 2019.

CFTC Advisory on Voluntary Disclosure & Cooperation of Violations Involving Foreign Corrupt Practices: On March 6, 2019, the U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued an enforcement advisory on self-reporting and cooperation that applies to individuals and companies not registered (or required to be registered) with the CFTC. The Advisory provides that the Enforcement Division will presumptively recommend a resolution with no civil monetary penalty if such individuals or companies voluntarily disclose violations of the Commodity Exchange Act that involve foreign corrupt practices in a timely manner and provide full cooperation and remediation as set forth by the CFTC’s January 2017 and September 2017 Advisories, with the caveat that there must be no “aggravating circumstances involving the nature of the offender or the seriousness of the offense.” In remarks made at the recent American Bar Association’s National Institute on White Collar Crime, Enforcement Director James McDonald announced the agency’s advisory and discussed the CFTC’s efforts to coordinate with other law enforcement agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Justice. You can view the full advisory here.

Neil Bloomfield has more than a decade of experience advising major financial institutions, and other highly regulated entities in responding to government investigations, including responding to global investigations into LIBOR and other reference rates, foreign exchange trading, and the allegations raised by the Panama Papers. He also frequently advises clients as they implement programs to comply with regulatory requirements, including requirements created by Recovery and Resolution Planning and CCAR. View Mr. Bloomfield’s full bio.

About WCIRA Blog

As government authorities around the world create a constantly evolving regulatory environment, conduct overlapping investigations, and bring parallel proceedings, companies are facing perhaps the most challenging regulatory and criminal enforcement environment. Moore & Van Allen has created this blog to help keep our clients up to date in these fast-moving areas and to serve as a thought leader as regulations and enforcement policy continue to develop. Our blog is a combined effort of Moore & Van Allen’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Team and our Financial Regulatory Advice and Response Team.